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Top 10 Summer Olympians From Connecticut

With the Olympic Games approaching, Patch ranks the best all-time summer Olympians from the state.

10. THE WINKLEVOSS TWINS: Cameron and Tyler are well-known for taking Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, to court for allegedly stealing their ideas for the social network. However, the longtime Greenwich residents built a name for themselves in the sport of rowing. They trained at the Saugatuck Rowing Club and competed at Harvard University before earning a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. In the Beijing Games, the brothers participated in the men's coxless pair rowing event, finishing sixth overall.

9. JAMES BLAKE: The Fairfield High School graduate and professional tennis player was a member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic team and competed in men's singles during the Beijing Games. Blake, winner of 10 titles during his career and ranked fourth in the world during his impressive run, beat Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the Olympics, 6-4, 7-6. Federer was ranked number one in the world at the time. Blake went on to the bronze medal match where he lost to Serbia's Novak Djokovic, 4-6, 6-7.

8. CHARLES NAGY: The former UConn and star, made the 1988 U.S. Olympic baseball team that competed in the Seoul, South Korea games. It was a demonstration sport at the time, but and Team USA sure made it seem like the real thing. They torched the competition on their way to winning the gold medal. Nagy made two appearances and earned a save before embarking on a solid career with the Cleveland Indians. He's currently the pitching coach with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

7. MARIE CORRIDON: Corridon, who was raised in Norwalk, won a gold medal as an 18-year-old in the 1948 Olympic Games in London. Earlier that year, she became the first woman to break the one minute barrier in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 59.9. Corridon swam the first leg of the woman's 400-yard freestyle relay and helped the United States set a new world record with a time of 4:29:20.

6. CHARLES SMITH: In the last Olympics before NBA stars were allowed to compete, Smith, a former high school star at Warren Harding High School in Bridgeport, helped the U.S. win a bronze medal in the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul. The former Big East Player of the Year and All-American at the University of Pittsburgh went on to enjoy a solid NBA career.

5. JANEL JORGENSEN: After her junior year at , Jorgensen, then just 17-years old, made the 1988 U.S. Olympic team that competed in Seoul, South Korea. Swimming the butterfly leg of the 400-meter medley relay team, Jorgensen helped the U.S win the silver medal in the event. She also placed fifth in the 100-meter butterfly race. Jorgensen went on to become an All-American at Stanford University and is currently the executive director of Swim Across America, a foundation that raises money for cancer research through swimming events.

4. BUTCH JOHNSON: Considered one the best archers in the world, Johnson has been to the Summer Olympic Games five times. The Woodstock resident won a gold medal in the 1996 Games in Atlanta and a bronze medal in the 2000 Games in Australia. He's currently bidding to make the U.S. Olympic team for a sixth time.

3. KRISTINE LILLY: One of the most decorated players in the history of women's soccer, the former phenom competed in the Olympic Games on three occasions. , an All-American at UNC, won gold medals in 1996 and 2004 and earned a silver medal in the 2000 Summer Games. She missed the 2008 Olympics because of the birth of her child. With 352 caps, Lilly is the most capped player, male or female, in the history of the sport.

2. BILL TOOMEY: After barely missing out on making the U.S. Olympic team in 1964, the former star earned the title of "World's Greatest Athlete" four years later. In the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, had a record-setting first day in the decathlon and went on to become the ninth American to win the event.

1. BRUCE JENNER: The graduate went to Graceland College in Iowa to play football, but an injury forced him to quit. He took up the decathlon and went on to become one of the most famous U.S. Olympians ever. took the gold medal in the 1976 Summer Olympic Games in Montreal, setting a then world record of 8,618 points.

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George Slate May 21, 2013 at 02:46 pm
The question that we all want answered is: Why do students who do so well at Sage Park then fallRead More back and do so much worse at the High School? Hopefully, in the next year we will have an answer to this question.
Kibble-n-Stuff LLC May 21, 2013 at 02:14 pm
Congratulations to everyone at Sage Park Middle School
Al Simon May 21, 2013 at 01:46 pm
Good work is being done in the schools. Educations is a lot more than just certain test scores.
Jeanneen Griffin, First Vice President and Team Leader, Commercial Real Estate Lending for First Niagara's New England and Tri-State Regions
Albert Williams May 20, 2013 at 03:40 pm
Just curious...any relation to Griffin Land, Imperial Nursuries, River Bend Associates?
R Eleveld May 21, 2013 at 03:44 pm
@Slate The BoE originally said they did not believe the Town Ethics Commission had purview over theRead More BoE. Yes in November the voters can choose to continue the behavior with the current party in the majority. See the comment of WR who says a Councilor accepted responsibility here: http://windsor.patch.com/groups/schools/p/council-approves-reduction-in-education-funding
George Slate May 20, 2013 at 02:27 pm
R Eleveld - Just to clarify, The Town Ethics Committee ruled (1) that the BOE is subject to the TownRead More Ethics Code, but (2) they do not have jurisdiction over violations of BOE by laws violations. When someone is brought in front of an Ethics Committee, and comes out vindicated, one of two things happen. They are humbled, or emboldened. The BOE President, and the Superintendent of Schools are emboldened because virtually nothing stands in their way of two person absolute rule, until November 2013. The only obstacle is for one of the Democrat BOE members joining the other four BOE members to reign (the pun works all too well here) them in (this appears unlikely). What is the old saying, Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely? So we have to wait until November to try and fix this situation. In the meantime the voters in Windsor can keep voting NO on the referenda to send the message that we do not want dysfunctional BOE oversight. Or we could get back a functional BOE. Since September 12, 2012, this possibility grow less likely each day.
R Eleveld May 20, 2013 at 10:18 am
@Michele, you are correct. The TC can only provide the BoE an amount of money, it can not in anywayRead More tell the BoE what to do with that money. It could make suggestions, however they carry the same weight as any citizen making any suggestion to the BoE. State law has created the BoE as an island unto itself. They do not even think they are subject to the Town Ethics Code. The voters do have the power to change what they do not like in November. The question is will they again repeat the prior behavior and vote in those that will not make change. Remember Einstein's definition of insanity. It applies here.
R Eleveld May 20, 2013 at 10:22 am
They did a good job of investigation along with Ms. Fissel. in the article: Some investigationRead More yields more questions. I ask some questions about the timing of this whole situation. It is now become an embarrassment to Windsor, Loyola, and Dr. James. The idea of this research/study is important, however this execution is fraught with problems and serious concerns. http://windsor.patch.com/groups/r-elevelds-blog/p/some-investigation-yields-more-questions
R Eleveld May 15, 2013 at 01:12 pm
The results:Read More http://windsor.patch.com/groups/r-elevelds-blog/p/voting-results-by-district-with-analysis
AnneB May 15, 2013 at 09:19 am
What they don't get is that the Dollar Tree and Poquonock development are not isolated issues.Read More They directly relate to the overall frustration of voters. Residents have repeatedly been told that development will produce "benefits" for them and the town and help keep taxes low. Meanwhile, those "benefits" always seem to go to an ever hungry, yet still failing, education beaurocracy while the center of town and other neighborhoods languish with no improvements and taxes still go up.
Malvi Lennon May 15, 2013 at 09:10 am
What Mayor Trinks and Minority Leader Jepson refuse to acknowledge is that people (ALL people) areRead More tired. Most Windsor residents whether they are on the right or the left want cost effective responsible government. We want our elected officials to remember that they ARE accountable to the people. It is OUR money hence OUR priorities should set the agenda. No more horse trails or sidewalks to nowhere. This November let’s send a clear message to the Town Council – step aside boys a new team is taking over.